A Moon Sprite's Love
by Ekko Rayne
Summary: The woman he loved died leaving behind only the body she once possessed.The heart of the body she possessed belongs  to a girl who loves him deeply. Can her love bring him the solace he needs to fight the ache of the loss he has endured?


_**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or Vampire Knight Guilty nor do I own the characters and story line affiliated with either the anime or the manga. All rights are reserved for its creator.**_

_Author's Note: This story is for magicalgirl100591. Today is her birthday and this is my gift to her. Happy Birthday magicalgirl100591! I hope you enjoy this story._

**ooooooooooooooo**

_**A Moon Sprite's Love**_

_**The woman he loved died leaving behind**_

_**only the body she once possessed.**_

_**The heart of the body she possessed belongs**_

_**to a girl who loves him deeply.**_

_**Can her love bring him the solace he needs**_

_**to fight the ache of the loss he has endured?**_

Maria Kurenai was relieved to have the use of her own body back after the death of her Pureblood ancestor Shizuka Hio. She had never minded the Pureblood possession of her body when she had had a need for it, but Shizuka had scoffed at the love that she held in her heart from the other Kiryu twin. Although she had had possession of Maria's body and soul she however did not have possession of her heart and that heart, even in a body controlled by another's presence, held on the love she harbored.

With her body now fully her own again Maria wanted to pursue the love she had felt for Ichiru Kiryu since the moment that he and Shizuka had first come to her with the demand for use of her body. She had sensed a deep loneliness in the human boy as he and Shizuka stood before her and she felt her soul being ripped from her body to be replaced with the Pureblood's. Only her heart remained her own and that loneliness she felt coming from Ichiru pulled at her heart strings and even with Shizuka in complete control of her body her heart still tried to reach out to him to soothe the loneliness he felt.

During the times she had been free of Shizuka's control she had tried to draw Ichiru out, but her heart aching at the knowledge she realized he had eyes only for the exquisite beauty and power of Shizuka. How she had wished that he would look upon her with eyes so filled with love as he did with Shizuka, but alas all she ever got was a casual glance from time to time. At least she knew that he acknowledged her presence while she was herself.

Sighing Maria watched from her bedroom window as Ichiru slunk through the night shadows around Cross Academy. She cared not what mischief he was planning only that he was once again out and about and not locked away in his room alone and suffering as he had been since first enrolling into Cross Academy. As it did now, her heart had ached to soothe his pain away over the loss of Shizuka.

Her death had taken what little bit of happiness he had found since the night she had slaughtered his parents and turned her Pureblood fangs on his brother and cursed him with the destiny of a Level E. Maria knew how Ichiru loathed his envy for what Shizuka had taken from Zero when she would not take the very same thing from him. Never once had she graced his neck with her fangs and taken the blood that he offered. It was not that she had not wanted to do the very same thing, but it had been the love in _her_ heart for Ichiru that had stopped Shizuka from cursing him as she had done his brother. Maria's love was strong enough to push back Shizuka's urge for his blood even while she had control over her body.

Ichiru cared not that he was spared the horrific fate of Level E. He had no inkling that it was Maria that held his life intact when Shizuka had thought to take it and fully make him her servant. Maria's heart had battled internally against Shizuka's desire for a blood bound servant. She could not allow her to take away the humanity of the boy she had come to love.

Maria sighed again forcing herself away from the melancholy thoughts. There was no use in her remembering all that had happened while Shizuka had lived, but time to focus on the present and figure out some way to soothe the loss that Ichiru was feeling. She had figured, as the weeks went on, that Ichiru would have gradually become more like the boy she had first met instead of the shell of his former self. She knew he ached from the loss of love that had poured from her body while Shizuka had control. If only he knew that it was not Shizuka's love, but her own. But if he knew the truth would it make a difference? Maria figured that it probably would not.

Turning away from the window, her desire to see Ichiru pulled at her much like the urge to take blood from a mortal. She left her room quietly in pursuit of the human boy.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Ichiru watched in utter silence, save for the tinkling of the bell he had wrapped around his hair, as she came bounding playfully into the moonlight. She was so like Shizuka in many ways, but where Shizuka had been cold, almost hateful towards everyone in her single minded pursuit of justice for the death of the man she had loved and lost, Maria was kind and her nature was soft and pure. Her innocence drew him the most. He was amazed at how happy she would always be even in the face of the dangers of her world. She reminded him of a sprite, mischievous and playful, bouncy as if she walked on air and her voice reminded him of chimes blowing gently in the wind, musical and magical.

He had been amazed when she had first come back to Cross Academy after the death of Shizuka. She feared not what the other vampires attending the Academy would feel for her, but had sought to be close to him. She had begged her parents to enroll her knowing that he lingered on the school grounds. He had never gone to her as she had requested even after he enrolled at Cross Academy instead choosing to lock himself away in his room with the agony of loss he still felt.

He knew the she was no longer the sickly girl who had allowed Shizuka to possess her body in a deal to drink the Pureblood's blood and become healthy as he had done. Her death had caused that deal to never be fulfilled however he knew that the Pureblood Kaname Kuran had granted the girl permission to drink his blood and now she was vibrant in her new life of health.

Ichiru watched as Maria tilted her head and the light from the moon cast her features in a soft ethereal glow. Hair lavender tinted silver hair and eyes glowed in the moon beams. Her features, although similar to the late Shizuka, were softer. Where Shizuka had been hard in body and spirit, Ichiru knew that Maria Kurenai was completely opposite. He could see the softness in her body as she stood bathing in the glow from the moon.

He shook his head, the tinkling of the bell he wore alerting Maria to his hidden post within the shadows. She turned her eyes towards him and a small smile played with her lips as she softly bounced her way towards him.

"Ichiru it is good to see you have left you room finally. I saw you from my window and wanted to come see you. Silly boy you seem to have taken a liking to avoiding me."

Ichiru knew she spoke the truth. It troubled him that he could look upon her and easily forget the pain of Shizuka's death. There was something about Maria that pulled at his heart every time he was in her presence, something that seemed so familiar and yet he could not figure out what it was about her. It was something he had felt when Shizuka had possessed her body and even now, when her body was no longer a vessel for the Pureblood, he could still sense whatever it was that he had felt with Shizuka.

That feeling had plagued him when he had been in Shizuka's presence, when she had been in her own body because that feeling was not present then, only when she had possession of Maria did he feel it. Even now that feeling was evident as he stood there with Maria and he allowed it to fill him up and soothe his aching heart. Whatever the feeling or power may be it was the comforting balm he needed.

He peered at her, the shadows around her seeming darker while she glowed as if she absorbed the light from the moon. She stood only a foot from him, her head tilted and a playful smile on her face as she waited for him to respond. He stayed silent as he studied her. She really was like a sprite with her small petite body. He sensed the new found strength in her, the power, that her sickly form had forced into dormancy, now radiated from her and tickled across his skin.

"Has a cat gotten your tongue Ichiru?"

Maria didn't mind his silence, not while he studied her the way he did. She basked in happiness as he allowed his eyes to follow her tiny frame from head to foot. If was the first time they had stood together since Shizuka's death and if he chose to remain silent then she would not push him. She was happy simply standing near him.

Ichiru placed a hand against her cheek causing her immortal heart to skip a beat losing its rhythm as it thudded a tattoo against her ribcage. It was the first time she had felt his touch while in possession of her own body. She had always wondered what it would feel like to fill his touch. His hand was warm against her vampire cool skin. She wanted so desperately to lean into the touch, to savor it, but she stayed still in fear that her movement would break the contact.

"You are so much like Shizuka."

Maria felt her heart sink. He was looking right through her and seeing only Shizuka. She closed her eyes to block out his face, but even with her eyes closed his face still swam in her mind like an after image painted there for only her to see. He still didn't understand that it was her love he had felt while with Shizuka and even as he stood there now she let it come forth and wash over him. She wanted him to know it was her love all along that he craved.

Summoning every ounce of love she held for him she pushed it forth from her heart. She opened her eyes to see Ichiru's eyes wide as realization flickered in their depths.

"She never loved me." Maria shook her head, his hand still warm against her cheek. "It was you all along. It was your love I felt while she was in possession of your body."

"Yes it was me. Ichiru since the day you and Shizuka came to me I have loved you."

Ichiru let the knowledge wrap around his heart and when he thought he would feel a sense of loss at the thought of Shizuka never loving him he did not. All he felt was the still calming effect that Maria's love gave him.

"You never said a word Maria. I never knew."

"I could not bear to tell you and have you know only to still look at Shizuka with the love I wanted for my own. All you saw when you looked at me was her. I wanted you to see me for only myself and not as the vessel that held Shizuka's soul."

Maria could not stop herself from reaching up and cradling his face in her hands nor could she stop her body from leaning towards him on tip toes to place a gentle kiss against his lips. She only wanted to give more of her love to him and she did. She poured her love into the kiss she gave him and then her heart again faltered as he kissed her back.

He ended the kiss and pulled her away to look into her eyes. He saw her love for him in the depths of her eyes and it made his heart lighter. He knew that she cared nothing for the fact that he was human, that he had once been weak and sickly just as she had been. All she cared about was him, what she loved was him for who he was and for no other reason. She had been the one all along who had given him what he sought most.

He felt something stir in his heart and he knew it was love, but with the ache of losing Shizuka still a painful memory he feared speaking the words. He did not want Maria to think that he was saying them just because she believed he saw through her and saw only Shizuka. One day he knew he would be able to say the words he knew she most desperately wanted to hear from him, but for now all he could do was pull her to him and embrace him.

Maria had seen the love spark in his eyes and could feel it in the embrace that he held her tightly in. She knew she would not hear the words this night, but that one day she would. She could wait until then. She was happy knowing that she had eased the ache in his heart, had given him what she knew he sought most. She no longer felt the loneliness radiating from him as she had upon first meeting him and she smiled to herself knowing that she had been the one to take it away.

Standing in the glow of the moon, the shadows of night a soothing cloak around them, anyone who happened across them would see a human boy holding tightly to a vampire in the guise of a moon sprite. Upon the lips of this moon sprite played a smile that echoed the happiness that was in both of their hearts.

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_Well magicalgirl100591 your birthday present is now finished and I hope that you enjoyed it. To all the other readers I hope that you too enjoyed this story. Please review or flame as you see fit. Thanks for reading!_


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